Constitutional Law

Allegations that murder defendant was ‘a drug ho’ who practiced witchcraft leads to tossed conviction

The New Mexico Supreme Court has overturned a woman’s 2022 murder conviction and barred a retrial because of “severe and pervasive prosecutorial misconduct, exacerbated by a lackluster defense.”

Feb 25, 2025 9:15 AM CST

Job protections for administrative law judges are unconstitutional, DOJ concludes

The U.S. Department of Justice has concluded that “multiple layers of removal restrictions” for administrative law judges are unconstitutional.

Feb 24, 2025 2:17 PM CST

Supreme Court won’t hear challenge to abortion clinic buffer zones

A divided Supreme Court on Monday turned away a pair of free speech challenges by abortion opponents to city laws in New Jersey and Illinois that restrict protests directly outside clinics and hospitals where abortions are performed.

Feb 24, 2025 12:58 PM CST

Forget originalism; some conservatives back ‘common-good constitutionalism,’ its embrace of strong rule

Adrian Vermeule, a professor at Harvard Law School, is an “ideological lodestar” among conservatives who are impatient with originalism—the idea that the Constitution’s meaning can be determined by its text and the founders’ intent, according to a story by the New York Times.

Feb 19, 2025 11:37 AM CST

Are gendered Oscars constitutional? University of New Mexico students are asking the question

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is considering a petition from undergraduate students in a University of New Mexico constitutional law course that questions the 96-year-old policy of separating actor awards by gender, stating it is legally flawed.

Feb 18, 2025 2:16 PM CST

Ruling in ABA lawsuit, federal judge blocks pause on foreign aid but does not order Trump to act

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has issued a temporary restraining order that allows some foreign assistance programs to continue, for now, in a lawsuit filed by the American Bar Association and other plaintiffs.

Feb 18, 2025 12:11 PM CST

Justice Sotomayor says she expects leaders will follow court rulings

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in a talk Tuesday in Florida that she has faith the nation’s leaders will ultimately abide by decisions of the courts—a key question at a moment when President Donald Trump’s initiatives are being challenged, and some of his top advisers are complaining of judicial overreach.

Feb 13, 2025 9:45 AM CST

Trump pauses enforcement of foreign bribery law, cites harm to ‘American economic competitiveness’

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday that that generally pauses enforcement of a law that bars companies operating in the United States from bribing foreign officials.

Feb 11, 2025 3:24 PM CST

Trump partly defied court order on frozen funds, federal judge says; is there an Article II exception?

Updated: The Trump administration failed to comply with a “clear and unambiguous" temporary restraining order lifting a freeze on federal funds, a federal judge said Monday.

Feb 11, 2025 2:29 PM CST

Wisdom Through Face Paint: Documentary examines Juggalo gang allegations by DOJ

“People hate what they don’t understand.” The United States of Insanity embodies this mantra, and if you watch the film, you’ll hear these wise words uttered by a man in clown face paint. But maybe that’s part of the point.

Feb 10, 2025 10:58 AM CST

Poker-playing SCOTUSblog founder has net worth of negative $3.3M, criminal court document says

SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein

Feb 6, 2025 3:21 PM CST

This ‘reinvigorated’ doctrine could be used to challenge Trump’s tariffs

Importers and others who want to challenge tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump could argue that he doesn’t have that power—but the argument isn’t a slam dunk, legal experts say.

Feb 5, 2025 11:59 AM CST

5th Circuit overrules itself, finds law banning handgun sales to adults younger than age 21 unconstitutional

After reexamining its precedent, a federal appeals court has ruled that a federal ban on handgun sales to youths ages 18 to 20 violates the Second Amendment.

Feb 4, 2025 11:23 AM CST

Law prof who used F-word while criticizing political leaders can’t be reinstated immediately, appeals court says

Updated: A state appeals court stepped in after a judge in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, issued a temporary restraining order that required Louisiana State University to reinstate a law professor to teaching following his suspension for “inappropriate statements” in the classroom.

Feb 4, 2025 9:14 AM CST

House asserts bar associations’ First Amendment rights, says AG’s Honors Program should be reinstated

The House also called for changes in President Donald Trump’s Jan. 21 executive order that encouraged the government and private sector to end “illegal preferences and discrimination.”

Feb 3, 2025 7:57 PM CST